Numerous studies have shown that consumers look for trust seals when shopping online to ensure that they are dealing with a legitimate company (think of the popular McAfee and TRUSTe seals). Usually, though, I only hear about these studies when a website seal company is pitching their services. Some seal companies even guarantee a certain percent increase in conversions.
You basically pay these seal companies a fee to verify your contact information and/or ensure that you have a valid SSL certificate. Usually verification occurs through automated processes. One such company used an autodialer to call my phone number; I answered and then entered a confirmation code, proving I had access to the phone number I listed on my website.
Most good website seal companies host the seal images on their servers. The online store then hotlinks to this image. Every day, the seal company scans the site and updates the seal image to include the last scan date and/or other important information. When clicked, the seal redirect to the seal company’s site, which verifies the seal’s validity in real-time. If the website has failed the scans, or if it has failed to pay its fees to seal company, this verification page will reveal an error.
However, many suspicious websites plaster popular seals all over their site, but when you try to click on the seal, nothing happens – or worse, you’re redirected to the third-party website that says the website’s seal isn’t valid.
One downside of the aforementioned seal studies is that none of them seem to check what kind of seal the customers look for. Do customers actually verify the seal’s integrity?
I’d take a guess that most casual shoppers don’t check into their precious trust seals as much as they should, anymore than they read the fine print when they rush to a heavily advertised brick-and-mortar sale, only to discover the item they wanted is excluded from the sale.
For small businesses, this is good news, because good heavyweight seals like TRUSTe, TrustGuard, McAfee, and Trust-Guard start at least $50/month, while some of them cost thousands annually. Small business simply don’t have this kind of cash to pour into a website that might never earn a cent.
Fortunately, there are free and low-cost alternatives that work just as good as costly seals.
Free Seals
The Find
TheFind is a popular shopping search engine. They now offer a free merchant trustworthiness program. TheFind automatically scans your site to verify the information you provided. This usually works fine, but it can have problems with certain site management systems (I ran into issues with ZenCart), and there isn’t really a way to contact customer support to correct such issues. Once you’ve passed validation, you get to display a spiffy badge on your site. Customers click on the badge to get a quick rundown of your site’s contact info, plus other useful info, including links to your privacy policy, blog, Twitter, Facebook, help page, payment methods, and so on (as applicable). The seal’s text is perfect for inducing trust in customers: “This store is UpFront.” Get UpFront!
PayPalThe PayPal seal has lost some of its power due its ubiquity and because scam artists abuse it. Another downside to the seal is that customers have to login to PayPal in order see the verification page, which is kind of annoying. However, if used correctly, the PayPal seal can impress, and it is free. Plus, it alerts customers to the fact that the site accepts PayPal. To get the seal, you’ll need to have a verified PayPal account, which means you’ll need to tie a bank account to your PayPal account. According to PayPal’s logic, since (American) citizens have to verify their identity to open a bank account, bank account owners are more legit. If you use the PayPal seal, make sure you hyperlink it to your verification page, and that your verification page has your company name or official email address. If I’m shopping at “Custom Quality Widgets” and the PayPal verification page says “funbob23135@yahoo.com”, I stop shopping then and there. Learn more about getting verified. Once you’re verified, go here to get your seal (login first before clicking this link, or you’ll be redirected to the home page).
BizRate
With BizRate, you’ll need to install a code on your order receipt page. After checkout, customers get a popup offering an incentive (like cheap magazines or entering a drawing) if they complete a survey about your website. The survey asks about satisfaction with product selection, pricing, shipping charges, and ease of use. A week or so later, BizRate emails the customer with a follow-up survey, where they rate their satisfaction with the order itself. To start with (when you have nor reviews), you’ll get the highest rating, which is beaming green smiley face. Depending on how customers rate you, your rating can range the gamut from smiley face to sad face. When customers click on your badge, they’re directed to your BizRate page, which displays your reviews. A lot of mid-sized companies use this service and it’s completely free. The service is offered by Shopzilla and they do really try to push you to buy advertising credits on their shopping search engine, but overall, it’s a good service. Sign up here.
UserTrust
UserTrust is a lot like BizRate and is also free. The service is offered by Comodo, but you don’t have to have one of their SSL certificates to use it. The site boasts 7 million users supposedly waiting to review your site. The badge displays your star rating, which starts at five stars but can change depending on how users rate you. The badge isn’t that hot, though, and I prefer the more established BizRate. Sign up here.
SSL Provider
If you purchased an SSL for your site — which you probably should if you’re running an online store (even if you only use third-party payment processors, an SSL makes your customers more comfortable; some people won’t buy from stores without one) — your SSL provider probably has a free seal you can use. You might need to store the seal on your server. Some of these seals won’t have real-time validation, but you should link it to something, preferably a page on your site discussing your security features and your privacy policy. GoDaddy’s SSLs run from $13 and they do include a validated seal. If you purchased your SSL cert through your host, you might need to contact them about what company they use and/or where to get a seal. Also remember that SSL providers often operate under many different names (ex RapidSSL and ClickSSL are really GeoTrust). Here are instructions on obtaining SSL seals from some popular SSL providers.
SiteLock
SiteLock isn’t free, but with HostGator’s bulk buyer’s discount (coupon code included in the link), you get half off and they have some great prices. With the discount, they charge for a year’s service what other providers charge for a month. Their cheapest seal runs about $20/year (with discount). Their best value seal costs about $50/year (with discount) . SiteLock’s advantage over free seals is that it verifies your contact information, verifies your SSL installation, and scans your site for vulnerabilities. The remotely hosted seal image then displays your validation in real time. If you’re looking to go the next step, SiteLock is definitely the best way to go; it offers great service at a great price. Sign up here.
Increasing Site Trustworthiness
It’s great to use seals, but they aren’t the only cost-effective way to prove your website isn’t a scam. When I work on online stores, I always ask myself, “What do I check for when shopping online to make sure I’m dealing with a legit company?” Then I work on strengthening those areas.
Site Contact Info
The contact page’s link should be in a visible place. The site contact page should list an email address, a phone number, and a mailing address. The site scores more points if this information is at the bottom of every page. To me, obscure contact information is a red flag that the company doesn’t want you to communicate with them, which leaves me wondering, “What do they have to hide?” By making your contact information accessible, you seem more honest.
Site Age
When I’m on the border about a site, I might check its age. I typically scan the About page for information on the founding date, check blog posts for the earliest post date, or check the domain’s whois information. Older sites hold more authority, because it’s hard for a scam site to stay open long without getting shut down by its hosting provider or legal teams.
Site Blog & Up-to-date Information
This is like checking to see if the site has a pulse. If the site regularly updates a blog, I know that somebody is alive at the company. To me, this signifies that the site has at least one employee to fill my orders. If the company hasn’t posted since 2007, however, the company seems dead, like the store owner be shocked to get an unexpected email with my order. In a similar vein, if I navigate to a product page, and it’s talking about an upcoming event in 2008, how can I be sure they even carry the product anymore?
Social Media
Does the store have a Facebook and/or Twitter page? Is it updated regularly? A well-tended social media page tells me that a site stays on top of the times and that they’re alive. Social media also gives customers an additional outlet to connect with the company if the need occurs.
Site Comments & Product Reviews
On a website, comments indicate a healthy flow of traffic. They establish a sense of trust and community. Check the comments to see if them seem realistic. Are they objective (good) or are they all gushing about the company (suspicious)? If the site has a comment tracking system, are there users with multiples comments (good), or do they all come from one-post users (suspicious)? Note that smaller niche sites don’t usually get enough traffic to generate comments.
Site Design
A website’s design says a lot about how much the store owners care about presenting themselves in the best light. A bad or malfunctioning design is the equivalent of walking into a store to discover grimy floors, broken products, and inattentive staff. Is the site’s design polished and professional, or is it a corny installation of a template? Templates are fine and oftentimes a very economical, but they should be somewhat customized to match the store. Does the site have a good logo? Is the text easy to read? Is navigation easy to use? All of these things tell me whether or not the store owners care about my experience. If they want shopping to be as seamless as possible for me, they’ll probably care about fulfilling my order in a timely manner.
Site Grammar
Does the site have hundreds of spelling and/or grammar errors? If they can’t differentiate between “they’re” and “their”, I don’t know if I should trust this store to differentiate between “SKU 123” or “SKU 124” when they ship my order. Numerous typos signify a lack of attention. Plus, mistakes can also be a red-flag that the store is operated by a non-native English speaker, meaning the store is located overseas; while being an international citizen isn’t bad in itself, fraud is easier to commit globally than locally. Not to mention, overseas stores don’t have to adhere to your country’s laws, so if things go awry, my recourse is limited, assuming I can even locate the person responsible.
Quick Google Search
Oftentimes, I do a quick Google search on a website, and scan the first 2-3 pages of results. Has the website been mentioned by any reputable websites? Are customers raging — or raving — about the website? Scam websites almost always turn up on complaints boards. Small niche stores, however, probably won’t have many relevant results, in which case I rely on other criteria to confirm its validity.
Site Reviews
Use a search engine and/or popular consumer website t When I see a bad review, I keep the company’s size in mind. Ten complaints might seem like a lot — unless the company serves a million orders a year, in which case ten complaints is a very small amount. I also remember that angry people post complaints more often than satisfied people post compliments. Finally, remember that some customers really are just impossible to please. Small niche sites probably won’t have any reviews.
About Page
I like an About Page that is very specific about the company. When did it start? Who started it and why? What are its goals? This helps me get a feel for who I’m dealing with.
FAQs
Even if it’s a low-traffic site, I always build in-depth FAQs. I don’t wait for a customer to ask a question; I think ahead of what kinds of problems the customer would run into. I like reading the FAQs on websites because it lets me gauge show how much effort the company is putting into the user experience. It’s so much more convenient to find information on turnaround times in the FAQs, instead of guessing and waiting or emailing customer support.
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